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PORTLAND — There’s an old adage that the first home game after an extended road trip is one of the hardest games to win in the NBA. While that might often be the case, it luckily didn’t play out that way for the Trail Blazers.

In their return to Portland after a four-game road trip, the Trail Blazers dispatched the Phoenix Suns 118-111 in front of a crowd of 18,604 Tuesday night at the Moda Center.

With the win, the Trail Blazers improve to 23-21 overall and 11-10 at home this season. The win also ends Portland’s three-game losing streak, extends their home winning streak to four games and is their sixth straight win versus the Suns.

While Portland looked like the better team in Tuesday’s contest from the jump, making their first eight shots overall and five of their first seven three-point attempts, the Suns were up for the challenge, shooting 57 percent behind 13 first-quarter points from Devin Booker. Between Booker’s shooting and 10 fastbreak points, the Suns were able to go into the second quarter trailing by just five.

But the Trail Blazers were able to get some separation in the second quarter thanks to seemingly nonstop barrage from three. Portland would outscore Phoenix by 10 in the quarter and shot better than 50 percent from both the field and three in the first half to take a 66-51 lead into the intermission.

And when the Trail Blazers started the second half by scoring the first eight points, which, along with the final six points that they scored in the second quarter, turned into a 14-0 run that gave the home team a 74-51 lead early in the third quarter. That lead would extend to as many as 27 before the Trail Blazers took a 92-72 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“I thought the second quarter we really gave ourselves some cushion, locked in on the defensive end and our ball movement, it continued,” said Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. “Going into the half, you always talk about how big the first five minutes of the third quarter is when you have a team down and I thought this was one of our best coming out of the half and being able to keep a team down, going into the fourth up 20.”

The Suns did what NBA teams often do in the fourth quarter of what looked like a blowout by taking advantage of Terry Stotts’ attempt to rest his starters, but the Trail Blazers were able to hit just enough shots and duck just enough Devin Booker three-pointers to come away with the seven-point victory.

“It’s a shame that the five or six minutes in the fourth quarter kind of put a damper on what was a really good game for us,” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “We did a lot of good things. Offensively, we shared the ball, set good screens. Defensively, in the second and third quarter, we were very good. Disappointed I had to put basically the starters back in the game, but they held on to it.”

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The Trail Blazers were led by Damian Lillard, who went 11-of-19 from the field and 4-of-8 from three for 31 ppints to go with seven assists, five rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes.

CJ McCollum went 9-of-18 from the field and 6-of-10 from three for 27 points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 36 minutes. Four of Al-Farouq Aminu’s five made shots came from three, with the forward finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.

Evan Turner added 12 points in 27 minutes and Shabazz Napier came off the bench to finish with 11 points, six assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes.

Suns guard Devin Booker led all scorers with 43 points on 14-of-29 shooting from the field, 5-of-12 shooting from three and 10-of-10 shooting from the free throw line. Troy Daniels came off the bench to score 18, with all of those points come from three.

BOSTON — Al Horford had 24 points in his return from a two-game absence because of a concussion and the Boston Celtics hung on to beat the Toronto Raptors 95-94 on Sunday for their 12th straight victory.

Boston (12-2) was playing without Kyrie Irving after he took an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Aron Baynes on Friday night against Charlotte. Irving has a minor facial fracture but has not been diagnosed with a concussion as initially feared.

Jaylen Brown added 18 points, and Terry Rozier helped fill in for Irving with 16 points off the bench. Boston shot just 40.2 per cent from the field.

DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, and Kyle Lowry had 19 points and seven rebounds for Toronto. The Raptors dropped to 7-5 after winning two straight.

Jayson Tatum’s acrobatic layup with 1:26 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Celtics up 95-90.

DeRozan missed a potential go-ahead stepback jumper with 19 seconds remaining. Tatum got the rebound, but elbowed Fred VanVleet in the face for an offensive foul that was confirmed by video review.

DeRozan had another look to give Toronto the win, but missed a turnaround jumper with two seconds left. Serge Ibaka scooped up the rebound, but lost the ball as time expired.

The Celtics took a 77-76 lead into the fourth after fighting back from nine down.

DeRozan and Lowry scored 21 of the Raptors’ 24 first-quarter points, but combined for just five in the second as Toronto led by five at halftime.
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Irving visited a facial specialist Sunday and was fitted for a mask after being injured Friday. The last time Irving played in a mask was on Dec. 15, 2012, when he scored a then-career-high 41 points versus New York with Cleveland.
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Raptors: Lowry’s 3-pointer with 5:32 left in the first quarter moved him past Andrea Bargnani (6,581 points) into fourth place on Toronto’s all-time scoring list. … DeRozan had 20 or more points for the seventh straight regular season game in Boston and is averaging 22 points in that stretch. … Norman Powell left the game with a right hip pointer.

Celtics: Boston’s 12-game winning streak is tied for its third-longest in the last 30 years. The Celtics also won 12 straight from Jan. 11-Feb. 3, 2009. … Rozier scored at least 10 points in a career-best three straight games.

The Clippers took a gamble on having just four veteran guards on their 15-man roster, and for the second time already, they have paid a price for their own admission.

They were put in a precarious state when starting point guard Milos Teodosic went down with a plantar fascia injury to his left foot that the Clippers said will sideline him indefinitely.

So now Austin Rivers, who started in place of Teodosic on Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz, Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams will see their playing time likely increase.

“You take a risk sometimes,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “In our case, we just decided we were going to go with four guards and then use some of the young guys, maybe. So now he’s out, and that hurts us.”

Austin Rivers suffered a strained left glute during the first exhibition game against the Toronto Raptors in Hawaii. That put the Clippers in an insecure spot for the rest of the exhibition season because he didn’t play in the last four games.

Now here the Clippers are again, down one of their seasoned guards. They are hoping that one of their rookie guards, Sindarius Thornwell or Jawun Evans, can provide a lift when called upon.

“I said that before the year. If anyone of those four guys goes out, that puts a strain on us,” Doc Rivers said. “So, Sindarius or Jawun, one of those two will play. They both are ready, in my opinion. I think Sindarius has a chance to be an elite defender in our league, maybe not right away. I think the minutes will help him. So, we’re just going to plug him in.”

Jazz’s Quin Snyder has history with Teodosic

When Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder walked into Staples Center on Tuesday night, he stopped to have a chat with Teodosic, who was on scooter.

The two have a history together.

Snyder was the assistant coach at CSKA Moscow in 2012-13 when Teodosic was on the team.

The amazing passing that everyone saw from Teodosic before his injury is something Snyder saw a lot of when they were in Russia together.

“He’s a unique playmaker,” Snyder said. “I think he’s just got a sense. He’s artistic in the way he plays the game. You don’t have to watch him for long to see that, as far as some of the passes and creativity. He’s a guy that people like playing with, and couple that with his ability to make shots and stretch the floor, he’s a unique player that can really add a lot to an already very, very, very good offensive team.”